Bauer Business Focus

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Juan Madera | Oct. 25, 2013

Published on October 23, 2013

Juan Madera, assistant professor at the Conrad N. Hilton College, stopped by Bauer Business Focus recently to discuss how companies are using social media to screen job applicants.

On Bauer Business Focus — A conversation on the use of social media in job applicant screening with Andrew Schneider, business reporter for KUHF 88.7 FM.

With social media becoming part of everything we do, using it to screen job applicants seems like a natural progression.

Juan Madera, assistant professor at the Conrad N. Hilton College, stopped by Bauer Business Focus recently to discuss his research on the use of social media to screen applicants and how young applicants view the practice.

“[Employers] are using social media to screen applicants because it’s readily available,” Madera said. “It’s so new, and it’s such a big trend that companies just want to be part of this.”

According to one of Madera’s recent surveys, 54 percent of employers use Facebook as a screening tool to verify applicant information. This could lead recruiters to information they shouldn’t know, such as pregnancy status, religion or disabilities, Madera said.

Madera accessed how applicants view the process and found that it could be deterring viable applicants by using Facebook as a screening tool.

“If a company is depicted as using Facebook, then applicants did not find that to be fair,” Madera said. “If they didn’t think it was fair, they were less likely to want to work and apply for a company that does use social media to access applicants.